Tonight, Friday, October 13 we will be honoring Rabbi Marcia Plumb with a HYBRID Festive Friday.
If you are joining us in-person this evening, please be patient with our volunteers and security guards as they take extra precautions to keep us safe. If you have a campus ID badge, please bring it with you.
Friday, October 13, 28 Tishrei 6:00PM Please join Rabbi Marcia Plumb with Ellen Allard and the CMT House Band for a HYBRID Festive Friday Kabbalat Shabbat Service.
Saturday October 14, 29 Tishrei 9:30AM Please join Rabbi Marcia Plumb and Rabbinic Intern David Kaplinsky for HYBRID Shabbat Morning Services. Torah reading by David Kaplinsky, Lea Grossman and Rabbi Plumb.
Please click here for the link to the new Conservative prayerbook, Siddur Lev Shalem: Shabbat Shaharit Siddur Lev Shalem The prayers will be the same as in our usual blue siddur, so feel free to use that instead if you wish.
Please click here for the link to the page numbers for Shabbat morning prayers in Sim Shalom (Blue) and in Lev Shalem Page Numbers for Shabbat Morning
We Stand with Israel
Over the last few days, so many of us are asking how we can show support to the people of Israel. We are offering a simple way to display your commitment.
Rose Spitzer (daughter of Toni Spitzer), and her roommate, Samantha Reed have worked with a local sign company to print the lawn signs pictured above. The signs are lightweight, and can be used with the included stand or just as a sign for indoor use.
The cost of each sign is $25. All profits collected will be donated, on behalf of Congregation Mishkan Tefila, to an organization to be determined by the Board.
Please click below to order now. Signs may be picked up at CMT or delivered to you within the Brookline, MA area if you are unable to get to CMT on your own.
We Remember: This week's upcoming Yahrzeit Observances
Shloshim Stephen Burg Gloria Bubly
Saturday Charles Silk Sarah Korbman Dr. Harry Blotner
Sunday Abraham Pugatch
Monday Laura Brown
Tuesday Richard Hyman Joan Seligman David Eastman Louis Cutter Florence Kaplan
Wednesday Anne Honey Katz
Thursday Esther M. Rosenbaum Samuel Adelson
Friday Louis Sudikoff Jason Brooks Jacob Shapiro
A Teaching from Our Rabbi
It is hard to believe that it was just a week ago that we were celebrating Shmini Atzeret and about to dance with the scrolls on Simchat Torah. Who could have imagined that, at the same time as we read about the end of Moses’ life, the lives of at least 1,300 Israelis were being snuffed out as well. The weeping and wailing of the Israelites when Moses died was a foreshadowing of the cries of Israelis on the same day, thousands of years later.
Two worlds ended last Shabbat–the world of the wanderers in the desert as the Promised Land lay in front of them; and the world of families whose loved ones were murdered in their beds. The Israelites had moved forward day by day led by the fire of a dream for the Promised Land. Modern Jews, led by the passion for the dream of a free country of their own, trusted in Israel to be their protection and their pride. Last week, scores of Israelis were burned alive by the passionate hatred of Hamas.
Israel will never be the same. Forever, there will be a Before 10/7 and an After 10/7.
Last Saturday seems like a lifetime ago. Every day since then has felt like a year. We are unmoored. Our sense of safety is gone as the boiling pot of anti-semitism seems to be overflowing everywhere we look, especially on college campuses, local neighborhoods, and on social media.
It was powerful to be with so many of you in person and at home as we prayed together on Tuesday night.
At the same time, I am grateful to my Christian clergy friends who reached out immediately, sent prayers to our community, and prayed for Israel and a return to basic human values, in their own churches last Sunday and during the week. I am grateful to our government and those around the world that have rebound themselves to the commitment to human decency, the right of Israel to live in safety and security and who have denounced the horrific terrorists and their actions.
On this Shabbat of Bereshit, of the first chapter in Genesis, we beg the world to remember:
וַיִּבְרָ֨א אֱלֹהִ֤ים ׀ אֶת־הָֽאָדָם֙ בְּצַלְמ֔וֹ בְּצֶ֥לֶם אֱלֹהִ֖ים בָּרָ֣א אֹת֑וֹ And God created the creature made from earth in God’s image; in the image of God, it was created. Gen 1:27
Each of us is a child of God, created by God. No one is less or more than another. Each is created equal. No one has more rights than another, no one has less value than another. Every time a child of God dies, God weeps. No matter what name God is called, whether it be Adonai or Allah, The Creator does not want death, destruction, murder, rape, or kidnapping. Anyone who believes that brutal murder is justified, and reasonable, has lost sight of what is holy and sacred.
Like many of you, I have been consumed by the news from Israel, and my worries for family and friends in the IDF, for Nadav and Adirchai, two of our wonderful musicians from High Holy Days who are back in Israel, and their families, for family in the north and friends in the south. I have spent many hours wondering about the effect of this attack on Israel and Jews in the future, as well as closely examining every report that I read and hear. The sadness and dread are overwhelming.
And yet….tonight we at CMT have a special Shabbat planned. We are marking the end of a sacred relationship between Rabbi and congregation, and celebrating the meaningful times you and I have had together over the past 10 years.
Our Festive Friday band is joining us, which usually means a lot of joyful singing and dancing. How can we dance when our hearts are heavy? Judaism says we must. We don’t let despair swallow our joy; we don’t let anger destroy beauty; we don’t allow sadness to detract from expressing love.
Love and care are what keep us going when grief clouds our minds. Recalling shared experiences that helped shape our lives for the better deserve recognition.
So tonight, we will look back, we will celebrate all the joy we created together, and we will strengthen our will and sense of community with music and dance. We will ‘turn our mourning into dancing’ with all the power of our hopes and prayers.
In the meantime, many have asked how to help in Israel. Here are some links to reliable funds that will ensure monies will go to Israeli soldiers and families in need:
To dinate to the American Jewish Committeeclick here.
